IS THERE A SUN?

1. . . . Peeks out from time to time but that's about it. We're waterlogged.
2. COMING UP: On NBC, Second Chance: America's Most Talented Senior. You knew that was coming. Let's see how the old folks do.
3. So did American Idol contender Clay Aiken look over host Ryan Seacrest's shoulder and find out that Ruben Studdard won before it was announced? Judge Simon Cowell said he did but Clay said he didn't. Did Clay act like he knew it when the announcement was made? Some say he looked like he did.
4. Now there's WiFi (wireless fidelity), a new network of wireless communication that's"expanding the boundaries of the Internet." It's offered at a lot of coffee cafes and more people and businesses are tapping into it. You do need special hardware for it. So what's next?
5. Mr. Big Stuff asks this: "Why is it that presidents need help from a military soldier in placing the wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns? Is it that heavy or are they, the presidents, all weaklings?" Something to think about.
6. FEEDBACK. Several people told me Let Me Sleep On It, referred to in the last Random as being used in a GM car commercial, was done by Meat Loaf. Thank you. And the girl who sings in it is Ellen Foley.
7. According to the Associated Press, when White House press secretary Ari Fleischer told the president that he was resigning in July, Bush ended the conversation "by kissing me on the head," so said Fleischer. Did Bush think he was the pontif or something?
8. GROWING ON THE AIR. CNN's Andrea Koppel's hair's gotten real long.
9. American Idol Ruben Studdard wears a size 15 shoe.
10. "CLICK IT OR TICKET." That's your choice in the D.C. area when it comes to seat belts. The campaign for mandatory wearing is in effect now until June (not far off). Personally, I liked Buckle Up For Safety, Buckle Up better because they made a song about it.
11. BRUCE ALMIGHTY. Jim Carrey's latest movie. He's good in it and it is funny. The first half's better than the second. The second gets bogged down and a bit preachy. But Carrey struts his stuff when he's got the "higher" power." He plays a local TV reporter who wants to be an anchorman and Jennifer Aniston's his girlfriend. She doesn't look so good.
12. I don't care what they say, that commercial they show at the movies for Powerade by an Agent Smith look-alike from The Matrix Reloaded is annoying. Enough already.
13. . . . People are getting up in arms about commercials before the movies anyway. They've had it and don't want to have to pay to see commercials at a movie house on their down time. I'm on their side. Show me the previews. That's enough. And even that is sometimes more than enough.
14. Ashton Kutcher, on the cover of Rolling Stone and labeled Prankster of Love, is shown holding up his sleeveless blue T-shirt way above his chest and he's got, like, low-rise jeans on and they're way down below his belly button and he's looking off to the side as if he's taking direction and wondering if he's doing what he should be doing. He's, like, almost topless.
15. . . . Justin Timberlake did pretty much the same thing months ago but he was totally topless. Everybody's wanting to get sexy these days. Who started the guy thing? Abercrombie and Fitch, with all their frolicking-in -the-nude scenes?
16. HAD IT WITH . . . "Pushing the envelope." That's supposed to be good?
17. GETTING READY FOR HER 15 MINUTES? Amber Frey, one of Scott Peterson's girlfriends - yes, we're hearing now that there were others - sure looked different last week when they announced that celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred is representing her in the case. Her hair was down and long and blonder. Maybe she visited the set of ABC's Extreme Makeover. And Allred . . . What case has she not worked on?
18. . . . And Allred's got a daughter, Lisa Bloom, who's on Court TV. She's a lawyer and a talking head too. And she's talking about the same case.
19. Lester Holt, MSNBC anchor and fill-in on the weekend Today show, played bass with The Captain & Tennille's band this past Saturday on Do That To Me One More Time and he was good. Had a little solo turn. He's a versatile newsman.
20. ANNOYING COMMERCIAL. For International Delight, some artificial creamer you put in coffee and now available in a new curvy bottle, with Wayne Brady dancing around the kitchen singing I Say A Little Prayer. Throw ‘im out.
21. That commercial for The In-Laws showing Albert Brooks getting up out of the hot tub with a red thong on is a funny scene. Wonder if the movie's any good?
22. Music Mania 2003 on Fox last week featured bikini-ed girls trying to ride a mechanical surf board to see who could stay on the longest. There were a lot of strategic close-ups on that one. Oh, and James Taylor and Carly Simon's son Ben was on the show and sounds like his father. He's got that quiet voice but he didn't have any shoes on.
23. There's a movie out called Elephant and a rock group called Elefant. The movie just won the Golden Palm and best director (Gus Van Sant) awards in Cannes and the group's album, Sunlight Makes Me Paranoid, is likened to the 80s British Invasion with just 32 minutes of cuts that have dance grooves filled out with guitar and a singer whose style recalls David Bowie. But don't they know how to spell?
24. Hanalie, dog in the neighborhood, just returned from from her trip with owner Sally. At the Charleston Place Hotel, they let her in the cocktail lounge and the piano player played How Much Is That Doggie in the Window? Royal Treatment.
25. Keanu Reeves looks good in the Matrix but in real life he looks scuzzy. Patchy beard, hair askew - Oh, that's in now - and his teeth don't look good. Guess he just likes to let his hair down between pictures.
26. When asked by Lola Ogunnaike of The New York Times about his sex life, Ricky Martin told her, "They all want me. Boys, girls, men, women, dogs, cats - they all want to have sex with Ricky. And they can all fantasize if they want to." His new album, Almas del Silencio (Souls of Silence) , is all in Spanish and is his first in two years. He needed to "kick back."
27. . . . Are people still Livin' la Vida Loca?
28. BURNING HIS BRIDGES: Jayson Blair.
29. What's Dylan McDermott gonna do now that he's off The Practice? What other show will take his one-note samba acting style? Or was that just for the show?
30. J. Lo's in wax now. At Madame Tussaud's in London and New York. And she blushes when you whisper in her ear. Really. An 85-year-old man won a "booty call" contest held at the New York venue and had his picture taken with his hand on the backside of Ben Affleck's fiancee.
31. So is CBS gonna go ahead and do that reality show The Real Beverly Hillbillies? Michael Powell of The Washington Post reported last week that protestors from West Virginia demonstrated outside CBS in New York and one of them said, "They're on a hick hunt for a bunch of L'il Abners. "
32. Is Ruben Studdard the heir apparent to Luther Vandross and Barry White? Might be.
33. By the way, the song is Bridge Over Troubled Water, not Waters. Everybody sings it that way but it's singular and not plural.
34. President Bush is going to have a 3-way. Uh ... I mean 3-way peace summit.
35. PeopleNews out of London reports that "pointy-chin" Sean Penn is trying to persuade former wife Madonna to star in a new film with him to be called Madonna and Child. Gimme a Break!
36. UH . . . Mother and Child Reunion - Paul Simon, on Columbia. 1972.

rocci@roccifisch.com

Archives